Pre-enrolment increasing again: now standing at 12,000

28 August 2017

An increasing number of students are choosing the Politecnico di Torino for their studies, confirming a trend in place for several years now; for 2017/2018 more than 12,000 students have registered for the test for programmes in Engineering, Architecture, Design and Planning at the University, with an increase of +10% compared to last year.

As for aspiring engineers, the number of pre-enrolments from Italian Regions other than Piedmont and from abroad continues to exceed that of residents in Piedmont, amounting to 60% and coming from regions historically more linked to the University such as Sicily, Apulia, Lazio, Liguria, Sardinia and Campania. The most represented foreign country is China, where for the second consecutive year local sessions of the admission test were organised; an action aimed at encouraging participation in admission tests by foreign students residing in more geographically distant countries, which for the academic year 2017/2018 has also been extended to Chile and Argentina with good results. Despite the introduction of the minimum threshold and the mandatory test also for those who have studied abroad, this year, foreign students intending to enrol at the Politecnico are on the increase: + 40%.

To optimally welcome international and also Italian students who do not know the city well, also this year an information point has been set up in collaboration with CUS Torino at Caselle airport, which will provide the first indications.

There has been a sharp increase in the number of students who have taken the tests for programmes in the engineering area in the advance sessions: 7,300 and nearly 40% of them achieved 50% of the overall test score, while 23% achieved 60% of the score; thresholds that allowed nearly 1,300 youngsters to enrol in advance compared to the closing of the last test session in September and to take advantage, also this year, of the fee reduction offered by the University as a tangible sign of recognition of their merit. Again with reference to the quality of students aspiring to enrol at the Politecnico, it should be noted that almost 25% of pre-enrolled students achieved their high school certificate with marks of 100/100 or 100/100 with honours.

Among the degree programmes in the engineering area with more than 800, and in some cases more than 1,000 pre-enrolments, are Biomedical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Management Engineering and Aerospace Engineering. The programmes recording the biggest increase in preferences compared to last year are Electronic and Communications Engineering and Environmental and Land Engineering.

For the architecture area, the number of students choosing the Design and Visual Communications programme is again very high, which also this year had more than 1,000 pre-enrolments against 250 available places. Pre-enrolments for degree programmes in Architecture and Land, Urban and Landscape-Environmental Planning remain stable.

The investment by the University and the CRT Foundation in merit-worthy and talented young people continues, starting with the three-year degree programme, with the “Quality and Commitment” project, which rewards 200 students with the best test scores in the engineering area with a reduction in fees and an additional training programme, and which, from the second year of studies, also involves those enrolled in the architecture area. More than 400 students have already formally expressed their interest in taking part in the project, even before the call was released, despite more than 2,700 students still have to take the test scheduled for September.

In addition, this year, thanks to an agreement between the University and Associazione Abbonamento Musei.it, all freshers will receive the Turin and Piemonte museum season ticket for free entrance to exhibitions in the circuit; there are also special rates for GTT public transport season tickets for all students with an ISEE (Equivalised Economic Situation Indicator) of less than 30,500 euros. The Politecnico's investment for these initiatives is 2,300,000 euros.

“Over the past five years, the number of students who have chosen to take the admission test at our University has increased by 50%”, says the Rector of the Politecnico di Torino, Marco Gilli, who continues: “The quality of Italian students has improved significantly, and even more so that of foreign students, and the number of drop outs has considerably decreased. The need to ensure high-quality training in line with the standards and services offered by the best European technical universities has led to the introduction of limited numbers for engineering programmes in recent years: this year, against 9,500 applications for pre-enrolment, we can only accommodate 4,500 students, so less than half of those applying for admission. In a country that has one of the lowest percentage of graduates at the OECD level, the University is making an extraordinary effort to accommodate more students over the next few years, with substantial resources allocated to teaching staff (more than 800 open positions in 2013-2020) and preparation of an ambitious Master Plan, which includes approx. 80 million in investments. We owe it to young people and their families, that despite the period of economic difficulty that the country is only now beginning to emerge from, have continued to invest in education and expect a high quality standard, providing employment opportunities, guaranteed by an internationally recognised study programme appreciated by business”.

On 30 and 31 August the last session of the tests for Engineering, Land, Urban and Landscape-Environmental Planning and Design and Visual Communication will take place; on 7 September, on the other hand, it will be the turn of aspiring architects to take the admission test regulated by the Ministry. As usual, the test results will be published on the personal page of the students and the result will be communicated via text message.